Tony LaRussa comes to town – and, natch, the fans and, particularly, the media genuflect. He tells Kirk Gibson as soon as a decision is made on his future as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, he’ll let him know. With three games left, Gibson is fired. What a bunch of BS. Three games left? C’mon. […]
Just for the record, in NBA all-star voting, Wilt Chamberlain generally was voted first-team center. Bill Russell was chosen to the second team. True story. In Wilt’s first nine seasons, 1959-60 thru 1967-68, he was selected over Russell seven times – all but 1962-63 and 1965-66. Of the two, only Chamberlain made another […]
Thanks to Mister Research, we have come up with Al Bianchi’s PER (Player Efficiency Rating) numbers. The Analytics have gone backwards into history and assigned “modified” PER numbers to each player for each season going back to 1950-51. Modified, because back in the good old days, stats for turnovers and offensive rebounds did not […]
“Mr. Russells’ House” on NBA-TV inspired these responses from Mr. Research and myself. Mr. R. — “Russell played with rage and was an angry man.” AB: – “Wilt was happy and we were thankful that he did not play angry.” Because we were there, we can say these things. Having played with […]
In July, I questioned Carson’s decision to enter the NBA draft, where he was ignored. Now, after a brief turn with Houston’s Summer League team in Orlando, Carson has signed with the Wollongong Hawks of Australia’s National Basketball League. While the Aussies enthusiastically have welcomed the “high-flying” American, I wonder if he is […]
It’s difficult to pinpoint the most disheartening part of this story – that the news media in the Valley of the Sun fell asleep for more than ELEVEN WEEKS before reporting P.J. Tucker’s “SUPER EXTREME DUI” blood alcohol reading of .222 from MAY 10th which, incidentally, would convert to a minimum, 45-day jail sentence if […]
1. LeBron James had already decided, before the NBA draft, he was returning to Cleveland. 2. Knowing Flip Sanders’ and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ obsession with the freshman forward from Kansas, Cleveland made Anthony Wiggins the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. 2. James’ two-year, $42.1 million […]
Two-time Pac-12 first teamer [it’s a 10-man squad] Jahil Carson, listed as an Arizona State sophomore before he decided to enter the NBA draft last month, was … not drafted. Now he is a free agent on the Houston Rockets’ summer-league roster, trying to get a job in the NBA when he might […]
When Denis Awtry former NBA player recently told me, “In the NBA we have children playing with children.” With the aid of Mr. Research, we have broken down the last two lottery drafts and they show the trend is obviously to younger – and younger — players. “There were seven teen-agers, […]
Knowing he could not survive in Brooklyn, he escaped to Milwaukee. It is not what he did, but how he went about it that is the problem.###